OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical outcomes of C-arm X-ray fluoroscopy before incision to make assistant lines and insert the guide wire of PFNA and PFNA blade.

METHODSFrom January 1st 2012 to January 1st 2015, 132 intertrochanteric fracture patients of type 31A1 and 31A2 according to AO-classification, were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 62 patients(14 males and 48 females) aged from 52 to 95 years with a mean age of(69.58±8.55) years in traditional group were operated by traditional procedure, while 70 patients in the skin marking group included 15 males and 55 females aged from 61 to 88 years with a mean age of(71.94±7.64) years, on the basis of the traditional operation method, the assistant line of the body surface and the C-arm X-ray was increased, and the guide pin positioning of the proximal femoral nail and the spiral blade was guided by the auxiliary line in the operation. Operative time, frequency of C-arm fluoroscopy, Harris hip score of the third months after surgery and the complications in both groups were queried for statistical analysis.

RESULTSIn addition to skin making group 1 patients had superficial wound infection complications, all patients were stage I wound healing. All patients were followed up for 3 to 18 months with an average of (6.81±3.07) months. The operative time was significantly reduced in skin marking group (56.16±6.36) minutes compared to traditional group (59.06±9.19) minutes (>=0.035). And the frequency of C-arm fluoroscopy of skin marking group was(25.89±5.81) times which was also significantly reduced compared to traditional group(31.32±9.81) times (<0.001). There was no statistical difference in Harris hip score at 3 months after operation and the complication rate between the two groups(>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSIn this study, a simple and easy method of assistant line marking can shorten the operation time and reduce the number of times of operation.